THINK
The Startup Failure Lab
Learn to analyse a startup decision before you know whether it succeeds. An interactive case study in deciding under uncertainty.
- Type
- Activity
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Length
- 15 min activity
Real founders make decisions without knowing how they will turn out. This lab drops you into a fictional startup and asks you to choose, then shows you how to think about each choice: what it optimises for, what risk it adds, what you still don't know, and what you should measure before committing. There are no correct answers here, only clearer reasoning.
THE DECISIONS
For each decision, pick what you would do and read the trade-offs. Notice how often the right move depends on information you do not yet have.
DECISION 1 OF 3
You have three months of runway. Where does your energy go first?
DECISION 2 OF 3
Your few customers each want different features. What do you do?
DECISION 3 OF 3
A larger competitor appears. How do you respond?
In every decision, the best founders reach first for the cheapest way to get the missing information, then decide. Deciding under uncertainty is a skill: it is less about being right and more about being clear on what you are betting and what would prove you wrong.